Poll: Celebrity Voice Actors Good Idea or Bad Idea (57 votes)

Why are publishers so obsessed with celebrity voice actors? IMO they're a waste of money that not only add little to no value, but end up sucking and end up making the game worse.

Unless this person is a celebrity because of voice acting why do they spend so much to put them in the game? Half the time when I hear a celebrity voice actor a person you randomly pulled off the street could probably do just as good of a job with a fraction of the cost.

Case in Point Ghost from Destiny, does anybody even care Peter Dinklage is Ghost? Now if they need to call him in fix the bad writing it's going to take away money that could be spent elsewhere.

Does anyone here think he'd do a better job than say Ellen McLain who is just known for voice acting and would cost half as much?

I don't mind the voices but I rather dislike the new trend of the actors/actresses faces being placed in the game. How many pop culture outlets must we see the same faces? Blah. I don't want games to feel like the movies.

It depends on the skill level of the voice actor and the cost. Having seen games with bad voice acting, it can certainly help a game in some aspects. But, it has to make sense from a budget stand point.

It depends on the skill level of the voice actor and the cost. Having seen games with bad voice acting, it can certainly help a game in some aspects. But, it has to make sense from a budget stand point.

That's sort of the point tho, just because you're a good actor doesn't mean you're a good voice actor and a lot of these celebrities they use to try and boost sales can't voice act worth shit.

I thought Jack Black and Hugh Jackman did excellent Jobs playing their characters in Brutal Legend and Xmen Origins Wolverine.

Robin Downes and Jean Reno were Excellent in Onimusha 3 too. (apparently Robin Downes is also Miller in the New Metal Gear.)

ALSO this guy is in Payday 2.

In case you're wondering, YES that is Giancarlo Esposito, other wise known as Gustavo 'Gus' Fring from Breaking Bad.

Is it a waste? I don't think so, even though that scene was just an opening for the game, I thought it was great and just shows how far games have gone. I think having Celebrities in games just makes the medium better in my opinion. Helps Gaming grow.

There is nothing wrong with a "celeb" voice actor. Especially if they are actual actors in good mediums and not videogame actors.

But it's about getting the right people. Martin Sheen is an excellent voice actor. Peter Dinklage however is not. And it would be obvious to anyone that has seen his work or even Game of Thrones. At no point on that show are you ever that into the way he delivers his line or anything. His acting is primarily his midget body language. And it's effective for it. On Camera. Not in a sound booth, where he gets exposed. Translation: don't take this to mean he's a poor actor, he isn't, but he doesn't exactly win you over on line delivery or any nuance in that department.

In contrast Tricia Helfer? good voice actor. Martin Sheen? good voice actor. Mark Hammil? you get the picture by now.

Edit: oh and the other part is making sure the role fits. Another issue with Dinklege in Destiny is that...he's basically narrator for most of the game's plot. That is not a role that I would argue would translate well with Peter Dinklage.

it's not inherently a good or bad thing. Just need to act well for the roll they are casted and I don't really care if they are hollywood actors or not. Will say though some celeb appearances in games have been so goddamn enjoyable. I still to this day fondly remember how well Samuel L Jackson played Tenpenny in San Andreas. Illusive man may have been a shit villain overall, but he seemed so cool at the time cause Martin Sheen made the character so awesome.

Good voice acting is good voice acting, bad voice acting is bad voice acting. A celebrity doesn't change that. Hiring a celebrity increases the game budget. I rather have that budget towards development of better gameplay. But if they incorporate all of the above and fits in the budget than I don't mind what celebrity is in the game.

Obviously a good idea if it doesn't excessively balloon the cost of development.

Celebrities have lots of experience with something a lot of voice actors don't... ACTING. They understand how to place themselves in a scene and react to it. And without the body language, it is incredibly hard to get feeling across through voice alone... but they do have lots of experience doing it (just look at Pixar and Dreamworks movies).

The developer just needs to choose the correct person for the role and not just choose them because they are a celebrity.

Obviously a good idea if it doesn't excessively balloon the cost of development.

Celebrities have lots of experience with something a lot of voice actors don't... ACTING. They understand how to place themselves in a scene and react to it. And without the body language, it is incredibly hard to get feeling across through voice alone... but they do have lots of experience doing it (just look at Pixar and Dreamworks movies).

The developer just needs to choose the correct person for the role and not just choose them because they are a celebrity.

pretty much this. hiring a famous actor for your game just to boost hype is terrible

Gus Fringe though, damn hes good in what he's done so far. I think professional voice actors are better as long as they aren't over-used on NPCs (cough Bethesda).

I feel he's a special case. Now i haven't actually played the content he's in,but from the trailer he appears to be playing a character that shares the damm near same speech pattern as he did in breaking bad. The problem with Peter Dinklage is that when people think of him they see a certain character that has certain traits..not a A.I sounding like a robot. Had bungie designed his character to match well with the personality and charm he displays in Game of thrones you wouldn't be seeing anyone complaining

The cost is inefficient, but hearing a familiar voice coming from a video game is a huge deal. It's like all of the things you've seen this actor do now become part of the character, because they have the same voice.

On the other hand some actors are just terrible at voice acting because there is no physical expression to complement the voice acting.

I feel that for the most part they are a waste of money. But there are some games that have famous celebrities that work really great. As long as the voice acting is well done then that's all that really matters for me and most of the times you don't need a famous actor who wants a huge pay check when you can find a less known actor who can do a great job for less.

Excellent topic, I was going to make a thread on it too. Waste of resources IMO. I'm a gameplay guy, I can't even remember who voiced who or are two characters from different games had the same voice actor, never cared about these stupid things.

It depends on the skill level of the voice actor and the cost. Having seen games with bad voice acting, it can certainly help a game in some aspects. But, it has to make sense from a budget stand point.

Uh you know there are professional voice actors that aren't going to command the same money as a celebrity?